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Will you be there?

Posted: February 23, 2012 - 12:24am

Congratulations to Head Coach Elizabeth Bennett, her staff and the Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats basketball team for not only winning the Region 2AAAA tournament championship but defeating Statesboro High, a team that had bested them by 30 points earlier in the season, in doing so.

The win, over the number two ranked Class AAAA team in the state at the time, has to be one of the highlights of Richmond Hill girl’s basketball history.

In some ways, it is reminiscent of the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s victory over the former Soviet Union in 1980. But not so much because the Wildcats were huge underdogs going into the game as the hockey team was. After all, Richmond Hill’s record before Saturday was 24-2. The game, played at RHHS, is reminiscent because so few people actually saw it.

Few people saw the hockey game because it was broadcast only regionally, not nationwide. The lack of witnesses to the Wildcat’s basketball triumph was due to so few people showing up to watch.

Thursday night, when the Richmond Hill boys battled Effingham County, so many people wanted to watch that ticket sales had to be halted due to lack of seats. An estimated 1,500 people packed the gym.

Granted a lot of those fans made the trip from Effingham for the game, but not only was the Richmond Hill side of the gym just as full, the Wildcat backers were just as loud and just as enthusiastic as the Rebel fans were.

Saturday, however, was a different story as fans on hand from other schools clearly outnumbered those from Richmond Hill. Perhaps most disappointing was the lack of students in attendance. A generous, rough estimate would have to put that number at less than 100 even if you count the cheerleaders.

Did Bennett, her assistants and the players perform a miracle, find a cure for cancer, put an end to world hunger or stop a war? No.

Did they do something pretty cool? Yes.

Too bad so few paid attention.

Tomorrow, Richmond Hill hosts Bainbridge High School in the first round of the Class AAAA state tournament.

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Congratulations to Head Coach Elizabeth Bennett, her staff and the Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats basketball team for not only winning the Region 2AAAA tournament championship but defeating Statesboro High, a team that had bested them by 30 points earlier in the season, in doing so.

The win, over the number two ranked Class AAAA team in the state at the time, has to be one of the highlights of Richmond Hill girl’s basketball history.